UWG Ingram Library Hosts WWII Exhibit Through December 12

In observance of Veterans Day, the Ingram Library at the University of West Georgia will host a photograph exhibit, “Images of Small Town Americans in World War II,” from Tuesday, Nov. 4 through Friday, Dec. 12. The exhibit is free and the community is welcome to attend.

The personal collections of 18 men and women who served in Europe, the Pacific and North Africa in World War II documents a pivotal time in these soldiers’ lives and in American and world history.

In 2000, Smyrna resident Patricia Burns started collecting veterans’ oral histories and historical war items for the Smyrna Museum. The photographs in the exhibit were contributed from the veterans’ personal collections.

“These pictures show their youth, vibrancy and contribution during World War II, which forever changed them and the world,” said Burns. “They are also a reminder of so many young men and women who never made it home to grow old.”

The photographs tell the stories of U.S. Navy Signalman Grady “Pete” Burnette, First Lieutenant Dorothy “Dot” Bacon, Technical Sergeant Edward LaPorta and Private First Class Arthur Crowe, Jr.

Burnette hitchhiked from Powder Springs to Atlanta to join the Navy and fought in the Battle of the Java Sea, a major naval Pacific campaign of WWII, on a small destroyer. When the Japanese sank the small destroyer, he was captured and made a prisoner of war for more than three years.
Bacon, of Sumter, SC, served as a nurse in an English hospital during the war, where she worked long hours patching and suturing patients when the surgeons were too busy to do it.

LaPorta, an Italian immigrant, was one of 20 men in his company of 220 to survive the invasion of North Africa. Taken prisoner by the Germans, he was confined to camps in Italy and Germany. On transfer from one German camp to another, he refused to abandon a sick friend, pulling him on a make shift sled and then carrying him the remaining 80 miles, saving his life.

Crowe dropped out of The Citadel to join the army and participated in the Invasion of Normandy where he drove a truck off a landing barge and nearly drowned.

On an advance survey team in the Cherbourg Peninsula, he encountered a retreating German division and using the code word “serenade” helped communicate an order to attack that ultimately launched 800 artillery shells within a 20-second period.

Ingram Library hours are Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. – 2 a.m.; Friday, 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.; and Sunday, 2 p.m. – 2 a.m.

For more information, call 678-839-5337.

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"Anne Frank: A History for Today" Exhibit at Georgia Southern University Museum November 2

The Georgia Southern University Museum is hosting “Anne Frank: A History for Today” beginning November 2, 2008.

“Anne Frank: A History for Today” chronicles the Holocaust through the eyes of Anne Frank and her family. The goal of the exhibit is to confront issues of prejudice and intolerance and to educate young people about the positive values of diversity.

Consisting of 55 large panels, this exhibit juxtaposes photographs of the Frank family with photographs depicting historical events during that time. The goal is to show how persecuted people, such as the Frank family, were affected by political decisions and by the actions and beliefs of individuals. The exhibit invites people to view and think about prejudice, discrimination, hate and violence. It also encourages them to think about their own attitudes and beliefs.

Also part of the exhibit is “The Anne Frank Secret Hiding Place,” an artist’s representation of what the secret hiding place was like. The exhibit’s visitors will also have the opportunity to view a brief film, “The Short Life of Anne Frank.”

The exhibit is sponsored by The Anne Frank Center U.S.A. Through this exhibit and others, the center has introduced over four million young people to the story of Anne Frank. The goal of the exhibit is to confront issues of prejudice and intolerance and to educate young people about the positive values of diversity.

Accompanying the exhibit is “Witness to the Holocaust: WWII Veteran William A. Scott at Buchenwald.” This exhibit documents the liberation of Buchenwald through the lens of U.S. Army photojournalist William A. Scott, III. Scott was a member of a segregated African-American unit during World War II. This exhibit shows how powerful discrimination can be and teaches respect for diversity.

The exhibit will be on display from November 2 – December 3, 2008. The public is invited to an opening reception on November 3, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. The reception includes a lecture, “In the Shadow of the Swastika” by Sylvia Wygoda, director of the Georgia Commission on the Holocaust.

In coordination with the exhibit and Veteran’s Day, the Magellan String Quartet will present an informal concert “Death, Destruction, and Liberation in Music from WWII” at the museum at 4:15 p.m. on November 11, 2008.

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Honor Flight Fayette Veterans Witness Sea of Support in Washington

Veterans on the October Honor Flight Fayette trip to see their memorial in Washington, D.C., were greeted by current members of the United States military. Bystanders who heard the veterans were arriving wanted to show their appreciation as well.

The veterans were surprised and visibly moved by the cheering crowd, and many later said that this was one of the highlights of the trip for them. After the war ended, the majority of the soldiers returned home without fanfare to seek jobs and adapt to civilian life, so this recognition may have been delayed but was much appreciated. Unfortunately, we are losing these members of the "Greatest Generation" at the rate of over 1,400 per day.

Honor Flight Fayette is preparing for their 3rd flight on November 12th, which will bring to over 200 the total number of veterans who have been taken to D.C. this year at no charge to them. Funds are raised through contributions from caring and generous businesses and citizens, and 100% of these monies are used for the flights.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, Honor Flight Fayette has a board of directors to guide the effort and keep it on track. Board members, guardians and volunteers consider this project a labor of love, dedication and determination, and they donate their time and talents as often as needed to make these flights a success. In fact, guardians pay their own way just to be of service to 2-3 veterans during the entire day trip to insure their safety and enjoyment.

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"I Saw the Walking Dead" Lecture September 16

In partnership with the ongoing “Anne Frank: A History for Today” exhibit, the Ingram Library at the University of West Georgia will host Dr. Leon Bass, a veteran who helped liberate the Buchenwald Concentration Camp. “I Saw the Walking Dead” will be presented on Tuesday, Sept. 16, at 7 p.m. in the Campus Center Ballroom. The event is free and the community is invited to hear this remarkable story.

Bass, an African-American, served in the 183rd Engineer Combat Battalion during World War II and described what he saw at Buchenwald to be “the walking dead.” A retired principal at a high school in Philadelphia, Bass has become a national speaker on the subject and was featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary “Liberators: Fighting on Two Fronts in World War II.”

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